Save Me
by JeremysPrincess
Summary: Hermione Granger is the brightest witch of her age. Can she save Sirius Black? Rated M for future chapters. I hope this lives up to Dracardoris' idea when she requested. Character death. AU, etc...
1. Chapter 1

Hermione walked confidently toward the Veil Room. Sure that this spell would be the one to bring her best friend's beloved godfather out of his exile in the in-between, she headed down to give it another try. After the first three failures she had stopped telling Harry about her trials and decided to just surprise him when she brought Sirius to his home.

She scanned her ID badge in front of the magical eye that guarded the door and it slid open. She entered the eerily quiet room and walked up the steps to stand in front of the veiled archway.

Raising her wand, Hermione began to weave the intricate spell that would finally bring Sirius Black back from the accident that had happened ten years ago, during her fifth year at Hogwarts.

She finished the spell and stepped back, hoping it's effects would be immediate. When there was no visible change and no immediate reaction, she turned to leave the room, once again disappointed and glad that she hadn't told Harry of her plans.

Just as she reached for the door she heard a noise behind her and turned just in time to see Sirius Black come tumbling back through the veil, looking exactly as he did the day he went in.

"Sirius!" Hermione exclaimed, running toward him.

The slightly confused man jumped back and grabbed his wand. "Who are you?" he asked gruffly.

Hermione quickly realized that while everyone else had aged and had 10 years of memories, it was as if it were the day of the battle for Sirius. "It's Hermione, Sirius. Hermione Granger, Harry's friend. I helped rescue you from Hogwarts before they were able to give you the Dementor's kiss after you escaped from Azkaban."

"Where is everyone? We were just fighting, I think I got knocked out. Where's Harry?" Sirius asked.

Hermione tried to explain everything. "Bellatrix knocked you into that veil and you've been stuck in-between life and death for the past ten years. Mrs. Weasley killed her, by the way. We were able to get away from the Death Eaters that night because of all the help from the Order. After Harry killed Voldemort, we finished our last year and Hogwarts and I've been working here at the Ministry since, researching other magical deaths besides curses and poison and I finally figured out a spell to set you free. It took me quite some time though. I had to quit telling Harry when I was trying because he was getting depressed when it didn't work. Oh he will just love when you show up at his door."

She realized she was rambling and had the grace to blush. "Sorry, I'm just so excited that something finally worked. We've missed you so much."

Sirius sat quietly and took in all the information she had just given him. "So Harry is 25 now?" He asked.

"Yes." Hermione answered.

"What's he like? Did he get married? Does he have children? Where does he live? What did he do after school? Oh I've missed everything." Sirius said sadly.

Hermione moved closer to Sirius and when he didn't run backwards again she took it as a good sign and put her arm around his shoulders. "Harry never really got over what we all thought was your death. He doesn't date much, never married, no children. He lives alone in Grimmauld Place and doesn't do much of anything. All your homes and gold combined with the gold his parents left him didn't force him to get a job or do anything really. He's been like a hermit recently."

"Take me to him." Sirius said firmly, standing up and heading for the door.

Hermione followed Sirius out the door, grabbing his hand and leading him toward the new lobby where the war memorial stood.

Sirius stopped and looked at it, a grand, revolving statue of those lost in the final battle. He gasped when he saw Mad-Eye Moody, his jaw dropped when he saw his cousin Nymphadora Tonks and fell to his knees when the face of his best friend since Hogwarts, Remus Lupin turned into view.

Hermione rubbed soft circles on his back as he sat silently with his head hanging.

When Sirius lifted his head, unshed tears shone in his eyes, and his voice quivered, but only slightly. "Take me to Harry please." He said.

Hermione helped him to his feet and when they exited the ministry, she took his arm and Apparated them in the courtyard of Grimmauld Place.

"I'm keyed into the wards so that I can enter through the back. Lowers the risk of exposure." She explained when he gave her a strange look.

They entered the back door without knocking and Hermione headed for the library. "He spends a lot of time in here."

When they entered the library, Hermione found what she had feared for several months. She tried to push Sirius back out of the room, but he had already seen what she was trying to keep him from and easily pushed her out of the way, dropping to his knees by his deceased godson's side.

Hermione watched, frozen by shock, as Sirius pulled Harry's lifeless body into his lap and sobbed loudly and unashamed.

She realized a few moments later that she would have to call the Aurors. She sent her patronus directly to Ron, who was head of the Auror office. The only thing it said was "Bring only who you must, my fears have come true. He is gone."


	2. Chapter 2

Moments later the loud pop of multiple Apparations indicated that Ron, Luna and two other Aurors had entered the home. When they walked into the room, all four sets of eyes went from Harry's body, to Sirius' face, and over to Hermione.

"I just got him out of the veil this morning," she explained. "He wanted to see Harry so I brought him here and this is what we found. I tried to keep him from seeing it, but he saw over my head before I could push him back out of the way."

Ron took and deep breath and walked over to where Sirius sat with Harry in his lap. "Mate, we've got to take him down to the ministry, so we can find out what happened."

Sirius never spoke, the only sounds were his sobs as he pulled Harry closer to him and shook his head.

Ron tried again to get Sirius to let go, but he only held Harry tighter.

"Ron, let me." Hermione said, tears now pouring freely down her cheeks.

She sunk down onto the carpet behind Sirius and took him into her arms. She wrapped her arms around his body and while she met with resistance, eventually pulled Sirius' arms from Harry's body.

The two Aurors that Hermione didn't know carefully moved the body away from Sirius and Hermione, and Apparated with it, back to the ministry so that the cause of Harry's death could be determined.

Ron and Luna gathered the glasses, bottles and papers that were spread over the room and bagged them for evidence. They checked the house for any signs of intrusion or unfamiliar magical traces but found nothing. Before they left, they both gave Hermione a small hug from behind and a sympathetic look.

She continued to hold Sirius in that position until long past leg cramps and back aches. She held him until he no longer cried, only his body shook until he fell asleep in her arms.

Not knowing where else to take him, she Apparated them back to her house and put him in her bed, pulling the covers up around him. She transfigured her vanity bench into a cot and laid down, too exhausted to even change clothes.

It didn't seem like she'd been asleep for five minutes when she was woken by Sirius' screaming sobs. He'd woken from a nightmare, realized that it wasn't just a dream and lost control again. Completely exhausted, Hermione abandoned her cot and climbed into her bed beside Sirius, holding him tightly and rubbing soft circles on his back until he fell asleep again.

Rather than going back to her cot and risking waking Sirius, she just scooted over a few inches and fell back asleep almost instantly.

Morning came all too quickly, the sun shining through the curtains and directly into Hermione's eyes. She yawned and stretched, bumping into Sirius and quickly remembering the night before.

Sirius stirred as Hermione tried to get out of bed and she could see the realization hit him as he sat up. His face went slack and his eyes darkened at the realization that he was in fact back from the veil, and that his godson was really and truly dead.

"Come on downstairs Sirius," Hermione said gently. "I'm going to make us some breakfast. You haven't eaten in 10 years, you need a good breakfast, today is going to be a long day."

Sirius nodded and followed Hermione out into the hallway and down the stairs to her bright and airy kitchen. He shielded his eyes with one hand and sat down at the table, watching her flit around the kitchen like a little hummingbird. She was a grown woman now, and that alone dumfounded him. The last time he'd seen her she was just beginning to grow up. She'd still been bushy haired and a bit too smart for her own good. Little did he know that one day, that brilliance would save his arse.

Lost in his thought, Sirius jumped when Hermione sat a plate of bacon, eggs, pancakes and sausages in front of him.

"I'm not really all that hungry," he said when he finally spoke.

"Please eat," Hermione almost begged, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "We have a lot to do today and it's going to be hard. Please just eat."

He couldn't help but pick up his fork as he looked at the little witch in front of him, lost and grieving for her best friend that she couldn't save.

Hermione managed a small smile as she watched Sirius work on the enormous plate of food she'd put in front of him. She sat down with her own food and began to put it away, no more willing to eat than Sirius had been.

Once they had both eaten a fair share of what was on their plates, Hermione cleared the table and headed upstairs to get dressed. Halfway up she realized Sirius had nothing to change into and went back downstairs.

"Sirius?" she asked the man who was still sitting at the kitchen table.

When he looked over at her, she said "Would you like me to wash your clothes for you? You can borrow my bathrobe while they're washing."

Sirius nodded and followed Hermione back upstairs to her bedroom. She handed him her bathrobe and he went into the bathroom and a couple of minutes later he stuck his hand out the door and handed her his dirty clothes. She took them downstairs and put them in the washer/dryer and spelled it for extra dirty clothes with an extra quick wash and dry.

Meanwhile, Sirius was in the bathroom staring at himself in the mirror. Before he could stop himself, his fist flew out and punched his reflection in the mirror. Rather than giving him the satisfying shatter that he hoped for, the mirror just yelped, "Ouch!"

Shaking his head, Sirius climbed into the shower and turned it as hot as he could stand it and scrubbed himself clean. After climbing out and drying himself he looked at his reflection in the mirror again. Still unsatisfied, he grabbed his wand and transfigured a square of toilet paper into a razor and quickly shaved his face.

Decided that was as good as it would get, he headed back downstairs.

"You look a bit better," Hermione told him.

He just shrugged and plunked down in the same chair he had sat in for breakfast.

"Come on, I'll show you around the house before I go shower. You'll need to know more than just where the bathroom is." Hermione said.

Sirius once again stood up and followed Hermione through the house as she pointed out the other bathroom, the spare bedroom where Sirius could sleep, the large library and the bright cheery living room, complete with TV and DVD player.

She left Sirius in the living room, handing him the remote control, and headed upstairs to shower.

Spending no more time than absolutely necessary, Hermione was back downstairs and ready to head to the ministry in about twenty minutes.

She found Sirius on the couch, remote in hand, just staring at the blank television.

"Come on, it's time to go." She said sadly.

Sirius stood and took her arm. She Apparated them to the ministry and headed up to the Auror office to begin answering all the questions.


	3. Chapter 3

Sirius sat, answering questions, in a small room with Luna Lovegood-Weasley, second in command of the Auror office. In the next room over, Hermione sat with the head of the Auror office, Ron Weasley, answering many of the same questions.

"Why did you go to Harry Potter's house last night?" Luna asked Sirius.

"Hermione told you last night. She yanked me out of that veil yesterday and I wanted to see Harry. We walked in and he was already dead." Sirius said with a grimace.

"What did you do when you first got to Harry's house?" Ron asked Hermione.

"We Apparated to the backyard, Harry had keyed me into the wards months ago so I could check on him without bothering him too much. We went in the backdoor, again I'm keyed in, and I headed for the library, where I find Harry a lot when I go over to visit. I saw his body laying on the floor and tried to push Sirius back down the hall before he saw him, but he's much taller than me and saw it about the same time I did and there was nothing I could do to keep him away from Harry," she answered, tears slowly trailing down her face.

"What did you do after you left Harry's house last night?" Luna asked Sirius at the same time that Ron asked Hermione.

"I don't rightly remember," Sirius said, shaking his head. "I was too shook up by seeing him like that. All I could think of was seeing him, when Hermione told me how down he'd been for so long, and to walk in on him like that, I can't really remember. I guess Hermione took me home with her, I woke up at her place this morning."

"I sat there on the floor with him for a while until he calmed down, then I Apparated us back to my flat and put him in my bed. I slept on a cot until he woke up screaming in the middle of the night and I had to help him calm down again. I was afraid to wake him again so I just slept on the edge of the bed after that. We got up this morning and ate and came here. Oh and we showered. That enough?" Hermione asked a bit angrily.

Ron calmed Hermione, explaining that he hadn't meant anything by the question, it was just something he was required to ask.

As Hermione was apologizing to Ron, Luna showed Sirius to a waiting room where he could sit until Hermione came out, but he was only there for a few minutes before she stepped into the room.

"I have to work today, so that I can take the day after tomorrow off, for Harry's funeral," she explained. "I need you to come with me so I can record a few things about your trip through the veil and back, but after that you're welcome to leave and do whatever you wish. Ron let me know that Kingsley has issued you a full pardon and declared you alive and well, so you're free to go back to any of your homes or whatever you want."

They headed upstairs and Sirius' eyes grew large when they entered Hermione's office. The plaque on her door read:

Hermione J. Granger

Minister

Magical Accidents and Catastrophes

Hermione noticed his reaction and blushed. "I loved Harry so much, all I ever wanted to do was figure out if you were still alive in there and get you out, so he could be happy again. I ended up getting promoted over and over until I ended up here. I started out as a spell tester down in the basement."

Sirius entered her office and found it light and airy. Nothing like anything he'd seen at the ministry before. The chairs were plush, there were real windows that looked out over the streets and the walls were painted a pale blue color.

Noticing his reaction once again, Hermione explained. "Being Minister of a department has it's perks. I get a small budget to furnish my office and being a witch, I can transfigure what I can buy into whatever I want."

They sat down across from each other at Hermione's desk and she began to ask him questions. He filled her in on the last thing he remembered, which was flying through the air after Bella's curse hit him in the chest, and everything going dark. The next thing he could remember was tumbling onto the floor, expecting to be back in the middle of the fight. He felt no pain while he was out, and couldn't hear or feel anything.

Once Hermione had collected all of the information she needed, she told Sirius that he could go and she would send a patronus to him after she got off work, and they could eat dinner together.

The tired looking wizard left and Hermione went to work, compiling all the data that she had collected from Sirius and preparing a report for Kingsley.

Sirius left the ministry and walked down the streets of London, amazed at the changes. Shops were decorated brightly, everyone was smiling and happy and most of all, you couldn't tell the difference between muggle borns and pure bloods. It warmed his heart a little to know that his godson, no matter how depressed he had been, had done this for the wizarding world.

Sirius made his way through the winding streets, ending up at The Leaky Cauldron. When he walked in the door, he smiled a little as Tom the barman's jaw dropped. He walked over to the bar and sat down.

"I'll have a beer, if you can pick your jaw up off the floor, mate."

"How?" Tom asked.

"Bright little witch by the name of Granger." Sirius replied.

"Always knew if anyone could do it, it'd be Hermione." Tom said with a smile. "She comes in here sometimes. So you'll know if it's true. Is Harry Potter really..."

Sirius' face darkened and he got up and walked right out the door, Apparating back to Grimmauld Place.

He landed in the yard and entered, not giving a damn who saw him. He walked through the house, looking in each room, noting that nothing much had changed. He got to the library and stopped. He stared into the room for a minute before walking in and sitting on the couch. A little worse for the wear, but it was the same old couch.

Sirius summoned a bottle of firewhiskey and a shot glass from the bar in the corner. He thought about Harry's thrilled reaction when he asked him to move in with him that summer and took a shot. He remembered Harry and Hermione rescuing him from the Dementors and took another. He fondly remembered every visit with Harry, even the one up in the cave in the woods and with every memory, he took another shot.

By the time he only had one memory left, the sight of Harry's lifeless body on the floor of the very room he was sitting in, he was completely pissed. He turned the bottle up and empted the last few drops into his mouth, and promptly passed out at three o'clock in the afternoon.


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione was quite worried when fifteen minutes had passed since she sent her patronus to Sirius. She sent another, urging him to reply and let her know he was OK.

Another fifteen minutes passed and Hermione decided to go looking for him. At first she didn't know where to start but she had a thought and Apparated to Grimmauld Place and began hunting through the house.

Just as she had suspected, she found Sirius passed out drunk in the library, only feet from where Harry's body had lain the night before.

She walked over to the couch and shook his shoulder. He groaned but otherwise didn't move or speak. Hermione cast a feather weight charm and wrapped her arms around him, Apparating them both to her flat once again.

She put Sirius in the guestroom and cast a spell to remove his clothes, except for his boxer briefs and covered him with the blanket. She put a hangover potion and a glass of water, spelled to stay cool, beside his bed, and left, closing the door behind her.

She went into the kitchen and fixed herself a sandwich, taking it and a bottle of pumpkin juice to the living room and plopping down on the couch. She ate her sandwich and watched her favorite show, a little guilty pleasure of hers known as Deadliest Catch. She watched as the boats were rocked around the seas and the crab fisherman filled their tanks with snow crab.

The show was familiar and calming to Hermione and soon she was dozing off on the couch, still in her work clothes.

Sirius woke sometime in the night and saw the hangover potion by the bed and downed it quickly. He also drank the water on the night table, smiling at her consideration.

Once he was able to stand steadily, he found his pants and wandered through the house, heading for the kitchen to get something to eat. On his way he heard the tv and poked his head in the living room. He saw Hermione's half eaten sandwich balanced on her lap and noticed that she was fast asleep.

Sirius did what any gentleman would do, much the same as what Hermione had done for him and floated her to her bed and tucked her in, transfiguring her clothes into pajamas so she could sleep comfortably.

He went back to the kitchen and made himself a sandwich, then sat at the table and ate it in silence. He thought about how much Hermione had done for him, and realized how bad of a job he was doing at repaying her.

Sirius slipped quietly out the backdoor and Apparated back to Grimmauld Place, and headed up to his old bedroom at the top of the stairs.

He flopped down on his bed and went back to sleep, blissfully not dreaming at all.

When Hermione woke the next morning, she was a bit confused. "Didn't I fall asleep downstairs?" she asked no one in particular.

She got up and headed downstairs expecting Sirius to be in the living room, and when she didn't find him there, she headed back up to check his bedroom.

The door was ajar and when she peeked in she saw the hangover potion gone and half the water had been drank, but Sirius was no where to be found.

She headed to the kitchen and made herself an omelet and some toast and sat down to eat. 

She finished her breakfast, cleaned the kitchen and headed upstairs to get ready for work.

After showering and getting dressed she headed into the ministry and began a long day at work, where she couldn't keep her mind on anything. The only thing Hermione could think of was finding Harry's lifeless body in the library at Grimmauld Place.

At that moment, she realized where Sirius must have gone, and didn't like it. "He doesn't need to spend all his time there right now!" she said angrily.

Ron, who had been passing by her open office door stopped and said, "Who you talkin about, Mione?"

"Sirius! He's run off to Grimmauld to hide again and it's not healthy!" Hermione huffed.

"Mione, you need to calm down. You can't be the man's shadow every second of the day. He's got a right good reason to brood and you'd best leave him to it, else you'll piss him off." Ron said wisely.

Hermione wisely stayed in her office until lunch time, but instead of hunting Sirius then, she went to lunch at a little cafe around the corner and enjoyed a chef salad on the magically cooled courtyard surrounding the cafe.

Before she headed back to work, she send a patronus to Sirius with the simple message, "You're welcome at my place anytime. Worried about you."

She left her office early and headed to the law offices above her to speak with Harry's attorney.

She reached the office of Harold P. Hartley and knocked softly. She heard "Come in Ms. Granger," from the other side.

When she entered she found a man much younger than she expected, drinking a large cup of coffee in a tiny office.

"Nice to meet you Ms. Granger. Mr. Potter spoke often of you."

"I loved Harry dearly," was her only reply.

"Mr. Potter left everything of his to you. He said you would know how to handle things. However, Mr. Black's return from the veil has complicated things. The minister has ordered that all things belonging to Mr. Black be returned immediately. Much of Mr. Potters estate was inherited from Mr. Black."

"I don't care about Harry's possessions. I just want to make sure Harry's funeral service will be quiet, private and absolutely beautiful, like Harry would have wanted." Hermione interrupted, irritated at the man sitting across from her.

"Ah, yes, yes." The man replied. "Mr. Potter paid a great deal of money to a very old family in Godrick's Hollow to get the space just to the left of his parents. He will be buried beside his father. Everyone in this department who knows of his death has been sworn with a magical oath, so no more people know about it than absolutely necessary. Mr. Potter paid for everything in advance to ensure that none of his survivors would have any burden."

Hermione began to sob. "Harry never understood that he wasn't a burden to anyone. He always thought he was a burden on the Weasleys in the summer, but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would have adopted him if they had the resources. We all loved him so much, but those idiot muggles gave him some sort of complex."

The attorney passed her a tissue, he was used to having hysterical clients. "Mr. Potter was very adamant that none of his muggle relatives get anything from him."

"So the ceremony will be at Godrick's Hollow then?" Hermione asked, wanting to leave.

"Yes Madame. Everything has been arranged and everyone who needs to know will be there." Mr. Hartley said. "I have even arranged transportation for those too old or young to Apparate."

"Thank you," Hermione said before making a quick exit and Apparating home.


	5. Chapter 5

_AN/ Here I go again, PLEASE review. Your reviews are what keeps me writing! I love to hear from my fans. Even if you have constructive criticism, I love to hear from you!_

When Hermione got home she slumped down in an overstuffed chair in her living room and flipped on the television, still crying and upset from the visit with the lawyer. She hated that Harry died feeling as if he were a burden to his friends.

A soft pop in her kitchen indicated that someone had Apparated in her home, but she ignored it, figuring that it was just Ron or Luna, coming to check on her.

"Hey," Sirius said softly as he walked into the living room.

Hermione turned her head when she heard his voice. Sirius face was puffy and stained with tears, as hers was. Unknown to her, Sirius had spent his day at Grimmauld Place, crying for his godson and crying for himself. He couldn't stop thinking that if only he'd be a little less reckless, Harry might still be here.

Sirius sat down on the couch beside Hermione's chair and they both stared at the TV in silence for several minutes.

Finally Hermione spoke. "Are you hungry?" she asked, hoping for something to do.

"Not really," Sirius replied.

"Me either," she said sadly.

The pair continued to sit in silence, pretending to watch the tv and occasionally stealing glances at each others sad faces.

Finally Sirius was the one to break the silence. "I miss him," he said in a broken voice.

"Me too," Hermione sniffed.

"I never even got to tell him how proud I am of him. No one else could have done what he did. His entire life was full of pain and I couldn't even be around for him to tell him what a fantastically strong and wonderful person he was." The animagus said, tears streaming down his face.

"We told him all the time how great he was and proud of him you would have been. If only I'd been able to get you out of that veil in time, Harry might still be with us." Hermione sobbed, finally letting her guilt show.

Sirius went to Hermione's chair and knelt beside her. "None of this is your fault, you were fantastic. You brought me back from the darkness and by doing it when you did I at least get to see him one last time before he's buried. I can at least tell him goodbye."

Hermione sobbed as Sirius wrapped his arms around her. Both of their hearts were broken beyond repair and neither were ready to tell the savior of their entire world, goodbye.

Sirius held Hermione as they cried until his legs were stiff and his back ached. He picked her up and carried her over to the couch where he laid her down and then pulled out his wand and enlarged the couch to the size of a twin bed and laid down beside her, wrapping her tightly in his arms again.

Neither witch nor wizard felt like being alone that night and they stayed on the couch and talked and cried until they dozed off in the early hours of the morning, still holding and comforting each other.

Morning came entirely too soon for Sirius and Hermione and neither wanted to get up and face what lay ahead of them that day.

Hermione rose first, heading for her bedroom to shower and advising Sirius to do the same downstairs.

As they both emerged from their showers, wrapped in towels, Hermione realized that Sirius had no dress robes to wear to the funeral.

Wrapping her towel more tightly around her, Hermione went downstairs and found Sirius on the couch in his towel. She couldn't help but notice how defined his chest and abdominal muscles were, but quickly pushed that thought out of her mind and summoned her magical tape measure.

"Stand up," Hermione told him.

"Wha?" Sirius began to ask before he was interrupted.

"If you hurry up we can get you some dress robes off the rack at Madame Malkins and have them delivered before the funeral but I have to have your measurements to send her." Hermione said hurriedly.

Sirius stood and the tape measure went to work, measuring his arms, legs, neck, back and waist. He jumped a little, causing Hermione to almost laugh, when the tape measure ran up his leg to measure his inseam.

Measurements written down, Hermione called to her owl and gave him the paper and instructions to rush into town, before sending him on his way.

She then transfigured a throw pillow into a pair of boxer briefs and gave them to Sirius. "So you don't have to wear the towel while we wait," she said before heading upstairs to get herself dressed.

A few minutes later Hermione stood in front of her mirror in a tea length sleeveless black dress with a black wrap around her shoulders and black low heeled sandals.

She was just about to head downstairs when she saw her owl with a huge package tied to his legs, heading for her window. She hurried over and opened it, and he landed on her bed and hooted.

Hermione untied the burden from the bird and gave him several owl treats before he flew to his water bowl and drank deeply, as she opened the package.

Sirius dress robes had arrived and were perfect for his personality. Black dragonskin, tanned smooth and soft, had been cut and sewn to fit Sirius' measurements to perfection.

She went downstairs to find Sirius, and he was almost in the same spot she'd left him, only this time he was in the underwear she had transfigured for him and nothing else, sitting on her couch, leaned back, watching the television.

"Here you go Sirius, I think Madame Malkin choose well for you," she said, handing the robes to him.

"Thanks Hermione," Sirius said with a little smile.

Sirius dressed and sat back down, until Hermione noticed that it was five minutes until ten o'clock and time for them to Apparate to Godric's Hollow.


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione and Sirius Apparated inside the church at Godric's Hollow, which was the Apparation point for Harry's funeral.

Once they had straightened their clothes, the pair headed outside, where the funeral was to take place.

Many people including the entire Weasley family, along with their spouses and children, Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Slughorn, most of the Auror department, the Tonks family and many of their classmates from Hogwarts, were already there, along with the official that Harry had chosen. Thousands of emerald green flowers covered the casket and spilled onto the ground.

Sirius walked up to the casket and placed a hand gently on his godson's face, tears falling down his cheeks once again.

The church bells chimed at ten o'clock but Sirius made no move to leave the casket so the services could begin. Hermione made her way to the front and firmly, but gently led Sirius to a seat in the front row, so that the official could begin.

"Dear Family and Friends," he began. "Mr. Potter wanted me to read a letter to you all, in hopes that you would understand his pain."

Sirius' shoulders were shaking and tears were streaming down his face, but he never made a noise as the man began to read Harry's letter.

"I know that you've all been worried about me for the past 4 or 5 years, if not more, there's no need to worry anymore. I'm done burdening you, and I'm ready to move on to my next phase in life. Hopefully I'll see Remus, Tonks, Moody, and my mum and dad again. I'm so tired, and it's just time for me to go. Hermione thank you so much for trying so hard to bring Sirius back for me. I know you'll get it one day. Take care of him for me when you do, he'll need someone with Remus and I both gone."

The official paused to change notes. "To the Weasley family. All of you spent my entire life giving me the family that my parents never had the chance to give me. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for that. Having 6 brothers and a sister was absolutely amazing. All of my beautiful nieces and nephews meant the world to me, and still do, even as my life is coming to an end. Hermione will make sure that they are all well taken care of, and none of you will ever want for anything. There are a few surprises in my will that I hope will make you all smile. "

Once again the official paused and changed cards. "To the Tonks family and my friends and former Professors and classmates from Hogwarts. I hope you all have a wonderful life and all live up to the potential that I know you have. Hermione, I love you so much. You were the one person who wasn't afraid to tell me you were worried about me. I knew everyone was, but you, Hermione, were the one person I knew I could turn to, no matter what, and you'd never even blink. I love you so much for that."

The official looked up and saw the entire crowd crying, unashamed. "Would anyone like to say a few words?" He asked.

Fred and George Weasley stood up and made their way to the front, and the official stepped to the side.

"We spent most of our years at Hogwarts playing pranks, inventing jokes and testing them on fellow students," George started.

"And an occasional ministry official, or cranky old caretaker." Fred finished with a sad smile.

"When Harry won the Tri-Wizard cup, after Cedric was killed, he gave us his winnings because he couldn't stand to keep the money." George continued.

"He told us to buy Ron some new dress robes, and then open up the shop we'd always dreamed of." Fred explained.

"We never thought of Harry as a burden, even when he was going through his darkest times," George said, shaking his head.

"He was our greatest friend, and without him, we wouldn't be anywhere near where we are today." Fred said.

"We love you, Harry." The twins said together, looking at Harry's coffin, tears slipping down their faces once again.

As the twins returned to their seats, the official stood again. "Anyone else?" He asked.

Hermione stood, shaking and went to stand in front of the crowd. "I loved Harry like he was my brother. He was my best friend. I could always count on Harry. I hope he's at peace now, he had such a tortured life." She turned to look at his coffin and said "I love you Harry," and went back to her seat.

Before the official could stand and ask again, Sirius stood up and walked to the front of the group. "I was a reckless godfather. I got James and Lily killed when he was only a tiny thing, then landed myself in Azkaban for ten years, spent two years with him, barely seeing him, then got my fool self tossed into the veil by my evil cousin. I left my fantastic godson when he needed me the most, and got back just in time to help Hermione find him dead." Sirius cleared his throat and continued. "I never got to tell him how absolutely wonderful he was, how much I loved him and how proud I am to be his godfather. I hope he can hear me now. I would shout it from the rooftops if I thought it would do any good. Harry, I am so, so proud of you. You defeated the most evil wizard of all time and saved the entire world. That's such a huge burden to place on a young man's shoulders and you carried it beautifully. I love you, son."

Sirius walked to the casket, leaned down and kissed Harry's cold forehead before going back to sit beside Hermione.

No one else stood, so the official called for everyone to file up and say their goodbyes.

Once the goodbyes were said and everyone had either left, or returned to their seats, the official closed the casket and lowered it into the large hole in the ground. Using his wand, he picked up the mound of earth behind him and placed it over the casket, leaving a smooth mound of dirt where only moments before, Harry had been laying.

Everyone slowly left, patting Sirius on the shoulder and sending sympathetic looks to Hermione as they filed away.

The official worked quietly, closing up all the chairs, except the ones Hermione and Sirius were sitting on, and levitating them onto the truck that had delivered them, and then the awning over the grave.

Finally after the official cleared his throat, Hermione got Sirius to stand so that the man could put away the last two chairs and leave.

Sirius continued to stare at Harry's grave, never saying a word.

Finally when the church bells signaled noon, Hermione nudged Sirius and they walked back toward the church.

Once inside, Sirius just stood, looking around, like a lost child. Hermione finally wrapped her arms around him and Apparated them both back to her house.


	7. Chapter 7

When they returned to her house, she sat Sirius down on the still enlarged couch, removed his coat, and went to make tea.

She returned to the living room a little while later with a pot of tea and two large tea cups and found that Sirius had stretched out on the couch and went to sleep.

Hermione quietly sat the tea down on the table and sat down in her recliner. She turned the TV on low and watched reruns of old game shows until she couldn't hold her eyes open any longer and reclined her chair and went to sleep.

Sirius woke a short time later and sat up. His head was pounding and he headed for the bathroom to find a headache potion.

Once he had downed the headache potion he went back to the living room and stretched back out on the couch. He started out watching the TV, but he soon lost interest and turned to watch Hermione sleeping.

"Damn she's a pretty little witch," he said to himself. Sirius continued to watch her sleep until he, himself had dozed off again.

Unknown to Sirius, Hermione wasn't entirely asleep and heard his almost whispered revelation. "He thinks I'm a pretty witch?" she thought to herself.

Hermione got up from her chair and went to the kitchen to cook dinner.

She had always admired the way Molly Weasley could spell her knives and her pots and pans to do multiple tasks at once, enabling her to put a huge meal for a group of ten or more on the table in minutes instead of hours, but Hermione loved the chopping and slicing and stirring after a long day, and preferred the muggle way of cooking.

Sirius hadn't even been asleep for an hour when a heavenly smell from the kitchen, woke him up. He headed that way and found Hermione stirring a large pot on the stove. He sat quietly at the table at watched her. You could almost see the tension melt out of her body as she chopped vegetables and meats and stirred them into the heavenly smelling mixture on the stove.

"Rough day," the animagus commented.

Hermione was slightly startled at the sudden realization that she was no longer alone in her kitchen, but still replied, "Very."

When she turned to face him with tears slowly sliding down her face, he couldn't help himself. He stood and reached out for her, pulling her to him after two steps.

Sirius held her close to his chest as she cried, kissing the top of her head and mumbling nonsense words, trying to give the little witch any comfort that he could.

Hermione turned her face up to look at the taller man just as he leaned down to kiss her head again, and their lips made contact.

They both pulled back, surprised by the unexpected contact, but as Sirius looked down into Hermione's eyes, she wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him down for a longer, more heated kiss.

Sirius held the witch in his arms more tightly to his body. The soft moan that escaped her lips betrayed just how much she was enjoying the kisses. The tightness in Sirius' pants did the same.

The dark haired wizard slid his hands down the curly haired witch's body until he cupped her ass, then picked her up. Hermione wrapped her legs around Sirius' waist and he carried her to the bedroom that he had been sleeping in.

After depositing her on the bed, Sirius rid himself of his shirt and pants, leaving only his form hugging boxer briefs straining to keep his erection under control.

Hermione took in the sight before her. Tattooed and scarred, lean and muscled. She couldn't help but think that the man standing before her was a god.

Sirius reached for her and when she stood, he turned her, and kissed the back of her neck as he unzipped her dress. As the dress fell from her shoulders, his arms went around her chest and gently massaged her breasts.

Hermione leaned back against her new lover and took in the sensations that were rocking her entire body. "Sirius," she panted.

"Yeah baby," he breathed in response.

"I've never...I mean..." she stammered, unsure of herself all of a sudden.

"You've never what baby?" Sirius asked, slightly concerned.

"Been with a man before," Hermione finally answered, ducking her head slightly.

Sirius turned her around to face him and used two fingers to gently lift her chin. "Hermione, are you sure you want this? Your first time should be special, especially since you've waited this long."

"Don't go soft on me now Sirius, I need you." Hermione said, looking into his eyes.

The tattooed wizard picked up the little witch in front of him and placed her gently on the bed. He moved on top of her and began kissing her neck, making his way down her body, nibbling and sucking on every inch of skin. He reached her small, pert breasts and gently kissed each one before taking the nipple of one in his mouth as he massaged the other.

Hermione's back arched and she pressed her body more closely to Sirius'.

Sirius continued kissing down her body as she writhed and squirmed, not missing an inch of her sensitive flesh, until he reached her little black panties. He completely skipped over them and kissed and nipped at her hips and thighs, and placed kisses down the outside of her legs and back up the inside of them, until he was back at her most sensitive place.

The animagus looked up at the sweet little witch before him as he hooked his fingers in the side of her panties and slowly pulled them down her legs. He couldn't help but pause to look at the gorgeous sight in front of him. All the sweet, creamy, innocent flesh in front of him caused an involuntary shudder to shake his body.

Using his lips, tongue, nose and fingers he kissed, licked and teased Hermione to her first orgasm of the night. His tongue was chasing soft circles around her bud when he heard her gasp and felt her legs begin to tremble. He quickened his tongue just a bit and she fell over the edge into absolute bliss.

Ash Hermione was coming down from her orgasm, Sirius shed his boxer briefs and moved above her. He rubbed his hardness against her opening and said "You know this will hurt," in a deep, husky voice.

Hermione only nodded, not trusting her voice to work just yet.

The dark haired wizard cupped her cheek with one hand and softly kissed Hermione as he pushed himself gently inside her. Once he was inside her as far as he could go, he paused for a moment to allow her to adjust before gently moving again, making love to her as best as he knew how.

Sirius angled his hips to brush her sweet spot as he felt his own orgasm building. He held on to what little bit of control he had left, stroke her sweet spot over and over until he felt her tighten around him and he lost that little bit of control and went over the edge with her.

He fell to the side and pulled Hermione to his chest, kissing the top of her head and her cheeks. "Beautiful, so, so beautiful," he breathed.

Sirius Black had never been a gentle lover, he'd never even been with a virgin before, but there was something special about this little witch. If this woman could save him from the darkness, then he was sure that he could show her a little light.


	8. Chapter 8

The now exhausted witch and wizard lay together in silence for a while, his arms wrapped protectively around her, keeping her warm as she listened to his pounding heart slow back to a normal rhythm.

Not wanting to ruin the moment, but insanely curious none the less, Hermione asked, "Where does this put us Sirius?"

Sirius silently cursed, he knew the question would be coming, "Much closer than we were before," he attempted to joke.

"I'm serious, Sirius." Hermione said.

"I know you are," he said, buying himself a few more seconds to think. "I guess we'll just take things as they come, and see where this leads us," he finally answered.

Satisfied with that answer, Hermione curled back into Sirius' chest and was almost asleep when she remembered the stew she had on the stove and jumped out of bed. She winced in slight pain as she walked across the floor to find her dress and panties.

The wince didn't go unnoticed by Sirius, and he quickly stood, and picked up her clothes for her. He handed her the panties that she gingerly put on, followed by the dress that he helped her zip back up, and last but not least, guided her to the medicine cabinet for a light pain potion and a healing potion. "I'm sorry if I hurt you," he said finally, looking lovingly at the witch before him.

"Oh Sirius," Hermione said, sighing. "I knew there would be discomfort afterwards. I listened to the girls in my dorm at Hogwarts moan and whine about it for years. That's also part of why I waited. I knew I didn't want my first time to be with some fumbling fool who didn't know what went where, let alone how to do it properly."

Unsure of what to say, Sirius wrapped his arms around Hermione and squeezed her tightly.

The pair was walking down the stairs when Sirius' stomach grumbled loudly, making Hermione giggle. They got to the kitchen and she dished them each up a big bowl of beef stew and took a loaf of crusty bread out of the bread box. She levitated the soup, bread and a large serrated bread knife to the table where Sirius had already taken two butterbeers out of the refrigerator.

They sat down and dug into their food. Not much could be heard around the little house other than the occasional "mmm" and the crunch of the crusty bread for several minutes.

After they both had full bellies, they went out into Hermione's back gardens to watch the sun set.

Sitting together on a small bench, they began reminiscing about Harry. Sirius was in the middle of a story about Harry's first birthday, the one where Sirius himself had bought Harry's first broom, when Hermione began to sob.

The animagus wrapped his arms around the shaking little witch and gently rocked her, tears coming to his own eyes as he thought about the godson that he wasn't able to save.

Eventually her sobs turned to sniffles, and her sniffles into quiet tears. "I loved him so, so much," she said quietly.

"I know hon, we all did." Sirius said gently.

"You don't understand. I _really_ loved him." Hermione finally said, after a moment of silence.

Sirius started to speak, and then it was light a light bulb went off in his head. "Earlier you said that part of the reason you waited was because you didn't want your first time to be with a fumbling boy. The other part of the reason was Harry wasn't it?"

Tears were streaming down her face again as Hermione nodded. "It started out as a soft spot for him. He was my best friend, my closest confidant. I could tell him anything, things I didn't even tell my girlfriends. We kept getting closer and closer until I realized one day I'd fallen in love with him. We were grown by then and Harry was getting so depressed. That's when I doubled my efforts to get you out of that veil. I almost…" Her voice broke and she couldn't continue her story as sobs shook her body once again.

Sirius held her close, tears falling down his cheeks this time, realizing just how much his disappearance into the veil had changed his godson, and indirectly changed the lives of countless others.

"Hermione, Harry's death wasn't your fault. If we can blame it on anyone, blame it on Bellatrix Lestrange. She's the one that knocked me into that veil and she's the reason you had to try and get me out. You're so intelligent, it would have taken any other witch or wizard at least 10 more years to get me out of that thing, if they even could. You gave me my life back Hermione." Sirius told her, hoping to console the little witch's grief.

The sun soon dropped below the horizon and the air chilled. Sirius led Hermione inside and up to her bed. He transfigured her dress into a soft tshirt and tucked the little witch into bed. As he started to leave the room, she called to him. "Don't leave me Sirius. Please. Stay here," she pled.

His mind told him to go, but his heart said stay, so he went to her and curled up behind her. She turned to face him and buried her face in the sweet scent of his chest.

That night didn't bring much sleep for the animagus.

He knew that he couldn't sit around forever, he needed something to do. What to do was the question.

By midnight Sirius was sure that he had been over every option and the one that made the most sense to him was Auror. Now that he was out of the veil and his name cleared, surely he could go back to being an Auror. His mind was made up and he'd go to Ron Weasley's office first thing in the morning.

Sirius Black buried his face in the frizzy, curly mop of hair that belonged to a beautiful little witch who was tugging at his heart, and drifted off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

First thing the next morning Sirius headed for the ministry. He left an exhausted Hermione in bed, kissing her on the temple before stepping out to the backyard to Apparate.

He landed in front of the Ministry and ignored the stares and the odd looks that he got as he headed straight for the head of the Auror Office.

Once Sirius reached the Auror wing of the Ministry, he knocked on the door marked Ronald B. Weasley and was greeted by a young woman that he assumed was Ron's secretary. Sirius explained the reason that he was there, and she ushered him to a chair against the wall, and entered a room that he assumed was Ron's office.

After being gone for only a few seconds, she came out and gestured for Sirius to enter the room.

Ron looked up from a stack of papers as Sirius entered the room. "What can I do for you, Sirius?

Sirius explained his desire to get back to work, to Ron. The two men chatted for a while and before he knew it, Sirius was officially employed by the Ministry of Magic as an Auror and had his first two weeks schedule in front of him.

"Welcome back to the Auror department mate. I'm really glad you showed up when you did. Since the war's over, not many people are coming into the Academy anymore. We're low on recruits and the ones that are here aren't qualified to take the upper positions like you are."

The two wizards shook hands and Sirius headed back to Hermione's house to tell her the news.

When he arrived, he found here just as he had left her, sleeping soundly in her bed. Rather than waking her, he slipped off his shoes and curled up beside her, taking in the sweet vanilla scent that seemed to be just her scent. He'd never seen her put on perfume, but she always seemed to smell faintly like sweet vanilla.

As soon as his weight pressed down on the bed, Hermione snuggled closer to him and sighed contentedly. Sirius put an arm across her side and closed his eyes.

It seemed like only minutes after Sirius had drifted off, when he felt Hermione shift and move to get out of bed. He tightened his arm around her waist and said "Just where do you think you're sneaking off to?"

"The bathroom, you sleepyhead," she joked.

"Sleepyhead? I've already been up, went out and found myself a job, came back here and went back to bed I'll have you know," He retorted with a grin.

"A job? How?" She asked, a bit shocked.

"Went and talked to Weasley. He's given me back my old position as a level three auror. I don't have to start at the bottom again. I've got a full schedule next week and about ten younger, less experienced, aurors who'll be answering to me." The dark haired wizard explained.

"Oh Sirius! That's absolutely wonderful!" Hermione exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you!"

The pair exchanged a quick hug and Sirius headed downstairs to stir up some breakfast for them as Hermione went to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

She came downstairs fully dressed for work, and seeing her in her work clothes made Sirius realize that he was scheduled to work that afternoon as well. "Nothing like jumping right in," he thought as he fried sausages and eggs for the two of them.

Hermione put toast in the toaster and got the butter out of the refrigerator. Together they got breakfast on the table in record time, and Hermione ate quickly before Apparating off to the Ministry for her last day of work that week.

Sirius lazed around her house for a while until it was time for work. He changed into his black linen Auror robes and headed to the ministry as well. Before he went to the auror department, he stopped in at Hermione's office to let her know he would be going home to Grimmauld Place that night, and for her not to worry.

Sirius had a rather uneventful first day of work doing lots of paperwork and learning the new spells that had been developed and trying out one of the Weasley twins' new shield charm hats that the entire Auror department wore.

Late that night when he headed back to Grimmauld, he hesitated at the back door. Taking a deep breath, he opened it and walked in. Much of the home was the same it had been the last time he saw the place before he was throw into the veil.

Sirius headed up to his old bedroom where he found little changed, except a new dresser had been added and his clothes had been pushed to the back to the closet to allow for Harry's to hang in front. It was obvious Harry had spent quite a bit of time in this room, old soda cans and pizza boxes littered the floor and the bed obviously hadn't been made up in a very long time.

Sirius left his old bedroom and shut the door behind him. Instead, he went to a linen closet in the hall, got a pillow and blanket, siphoned off the dust and cast a refreshing charm on them, and went to the couch in the sitting room. Exhausted after a long days work, it didn't take long for him to fall into a fitful sleep. He dreamt of Harry, and he dreamt of Hermione. Beautiful sweet Hermione and sad, tortured Harry.


	10. Chapter 10

The next few weeks were spent between Hermione's house and the living room couch at Grimmauld Place. He hadn't been able to sleep in any of the other bedrooms, and he hadn't even been back in his bedroom since he discovered all Harry's things there.

On late nights he'd go straight to Grimmauld and fall asleep on the couch, but days that he got off work before dark were sweet bliss for the dark haired wizard. He would Apparate to Hermione's backyard and bound in the door, sweeping her into a big hug and kissing her cheek. They two would have dinner together and usually end up making love in Hermione's bed, or in front of the fireplace in the den.

Sirius had quickly learned that he could be a gentle lover, and with Hermione, he absolutely loved it. Nothing felt better than holding that sweet little witch in his arms and bringing her over and over until he couldn't take it anymore, and then losing himself inside her. Her beautiful brown eyes sparkling above him, her head thrown back in ecstasy and her mouth dropping open as if to silently scream was just about more than Sirius could handle. Just watching her in the throws of passion tugged at his heart.

One night as they were curled together on Hermione's bed, his pretty little witch spoke. "Why don't you just bring your stuff over here Sirius? I've got plenty of room and you're here at least 4 nights a week anyway."

Sirius was silent for a moment before speaking. "I don't like coming over here on nights I work late because I don't want to keep you up."

"Oh silly," she told him. "I'm up until at least midnight most nights anyway. If I'm not working on a project for work, then I'm sitting around here wondering if you're alright and if you're home from work yet."

"I guess I could bring some things over here," Sirius finally agreed.

"Tomorrow?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"Tomorrow," Sirius confirmed with a smile.

Hermione turned in his arms and kissed him softly before she spoke, "This has been such a whirlwind for me. You make me feel so special and I've never enjoyed someone's company as much as I have yours over the past few weeks."

"It's been crazy for me too baby," Sirius responded with a smile.

Hermione hooked her leg over Sirius' hip and pulled their nude forms closer together.

Sirius grinned and flipped her onto her back. He assaulted her neck and bare chest with kisses until she couldn't take it anymore and breathed "Sirius, please," and he was happy to oblige her.

Sinking into her wet heat was almost more than Sirius could handle again so soon after making love to her. It became even harder to hold onto himself when Hermione used his momentary pause to take control and rolled them both to the side so that she was now sitting on top of his cock.

Sirius watched, slightly mesmerized, as he watched her breasts bounce in the dim light of the bedroom as she found her rhythm and her head fell back as she used the roll of her hips to pleasure them both. He slid his hands down her sides and slipped his fingers between her folds to find her bud and gently rubbed circles on it, bringing her closer and closer to her own completion. By the time Hermione fell over the edge of bliss, Sirius went with her, groaning her name.

"Gods woman," Sirius said after he was able to speak again. "You sure do know how to drive a man crazy don't you?"

Hermione smiled lazily as she snuggled closer to Sirius' chest and dozed off to sleep.

Sirius lay awake for a while longer, listening to Hermione breathe and thinking about what was to come.

The animagus knew that he was an old man, a broken man and he couldn't expect a beautiful witch like Hermione to saddle herself with his issues and his neurosis for the rest of her life. Sirius thought that for now, just for now, he could let himself love her, and when she realized that she needed a better, younger, saner wizard, he would deal with it then.


	11. Chapter 11

A little over a week after Sirius had moved his things over to Hermione's house, he was called into Ron Weasley's office just as he was heading home for the evening.

"I've got a very serious assignment for you Sirius. I'm not going to lie to you, it's dangerous. It will require the use of the polyjuice potion and you'll have to be alert and on your toes at all times. I really don't like asking you, because I've seen how much you've become to matter to Hermione over the past couple of months, but you're the only Auror on my staff with enough skill to come out the other side with your mental and physical beings still intact," Ron explained.

Sirius sat down in the chair opposite Ron and thought for a few moments in silence. "I'll do it," he finally said.

"You'll be away from home for several days, tracking down some Death Eaters that were never captured. We have intelligence that tells us that they're trying to find a new Dark Lord to rally around since Voldemort's downfall. They've got no qualms about killing anyone that they think might be spying on you. They tried to kill Snape when they found out he was a spy, but the bastard is too bloody brilliant for anyone's good and managed to escape them. I hope you're that lucky." Ron further explained.

"I can handle it, Weasley." Sirius confirmed.

"Thank you Sirius. Like I said, I hate asking you to do it but you're the best Auror I've got on staff right now." Ron said.

The two men shook hands before heading home to the beautiful women who were waiting on them.

When Sirius Apparated into the backyard, he found Hermione had set the picnic table for dinner and had hamburgers cooking on a muggle grill.

"Hey beautiful," he said, "It smells great!"

Hermione smiled as Sirius wrapped his strong arms around here. "Welcome home," she greeted him.

Sirius kissed his witch on the cheek and sat down at the picnic table. He decided against waiting until after dinner and to just tell her now. "Hermione, I've got to go on a mission for the ministry."

Hermione nodded absentmindedly. Sirius shook his head. "You don't understand. I'm going to be gone for several days. I'm the only one Weasley will trust with this assignment. I've got to track down a few veteran Death Eaters and round them up. Weasley thinks they're trying to find a new person to rally around since Voldemort was destroyed."

The bright little witch looked up, eyes wide. "That's awfully dangerous Sirius."

"I know, that's what I was trying to explain to you." He said gently. "Weasley says I'm the best he's got on staff and he thinks I'm the only one with any chance of coming out of this mission the same person that I am now."

Hermione's eyes sparkled with unshed tears, but when she spoke her voice was calm and even. "And what if you don't come out of it at all?"

"Well then, I guess I'll see my godson a little sooner than I had planned," Sirius said with a grim look on his face.

Hermione turned her back to Sirius and focused her attention on the grill. The animagus knew to let the subject drop and let the little witch calm down before they talked anymore, so he headed inside, telling Hermione "I'll be back in a few, gonna take a quick shower."

Little did Sirius know, Hermione had cast the Muffliato charm around herself and was sniffling loudly and had tears pouring down her face.

By the time Sirius returned from the shower, Hermione had composed herself and the burgers and grilled veggies were on the table waiting on him.

"How was work today?" she asked calmly.

The two made small talk, mostly about Hermione's work, until the food was gone and Hermione stood to begin clearing the table.

Sirius put a hand on Hermione's arm and stopped her. "I'm going to be fine. You've got nothing to worry about," he tried to reassure her.

It didn't work, but Hermione nodded. "I know. You're a very skilled Auror and an even more skilled wizard. I'm not worried," she lied.

Sirius wrapped his arms around the caramel eyed witch and briefly held her close to his chest. When they pulled apart, emotion in the backyard was thick enough that you could almost touch it.

That night Sirius made love to Hermione like they'd never made love before. He was slow, attentive and brought her numerous times before he came to his own completion, and he held her close to his chest, feeling her pulse beating through her chest as they came down from their high and she dozed off to sleep.

The animagus spent most of that night awake, listening to his witch breathe, and thinking about what was coming the next day.


	12. Chapter 12

Sirius and Hermione woke the next morning and for a moment, they both felt quite blissful, having woken up in each other's arms after a night of beautiful love making, but their bliss was short lived when they both realized that Sirius wouldn't be coming home from work that night. Or the next night for that matter. Neither knew when he would be back, and it greatly worried Hermione.

They both got out of bed, but Hermione quickly beat Sirius to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her, falling to her knees and emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. She continued to throw up until she was dry heaving, and then she felt a cool cloth on her forehead.

"Are you alright?" Sirius asked, obviously concerned.

"I'll be fine. Just nerves I'm sure," she answered, weakly.

She tried to stand, and was back over the toilet heaving again before she got completely off the floor.

Sirius rummaged through the medicine cabinet and found a mild calming draught and fed it to her a few drops at a time, until her heaves finally stopped. He flushed the toilet and helped the now weak witch to her feet, so that she could go to the sink to brush her teeth.

After she had finished brushing her teeth and dressing she headed down to the kitchen and found that Sirius had made her a pot of herbal tea and some dry toast. "To keep your stomach settled," he answered the question that she had never spoken out loud.

Sirius watched as Hermione silently nibbled on the toast. Her stomach seemed a bit calmer and they were both happy when she took a sip of tea and nothing happened.

After ensuring that she had eaten an entire piece of toast and drank a cup of tea, without throwing up, Sirius kissed Hermione on the forehead and looked deeply in her eyes. Neither of them spoke the words, but both knew what they other was thinking, and Hermione tilted her head and deeply kissed Sirius. "Be careful," she said, turning her head so that he couldn't see the tears.

It was probably a good thing that she wasn't looking at him as he walked out the door, because then she would have noticed the glisten in his eyes that had nothing to do with mischievous behavior.

Sirius Apparated to the ministry and found that Ron Weasley was waiting on him when he made it to the Auror department.

"I can't thank you enough for doing this Sirius," the red headed man said again.

"Lets just get it going so I can get it over with," Sirius said.

The two men headed into Ron's office where they went over the plans that Ron had set for Sirius.

First Sirius would Apparate to an Apparation point a short distance from Malfoy Manor. Lucius and Draco Malfoy had both been cleared of any wrong doing and sworn on their magic that they would never harm another person unless attacked first. Narcissa, however, had never been cleared of any charges, but the ministry had never been able to prove that she had done anything, and she had sworn no oath.

Sirius would then have to stake out the manor until Narcissa left. He would follow her, using a modified version of the Muffliato charm to prevent the crack of his Apparation from being noticed, until she led him to the meeting place. He would have to do this for multiple days to ensure that they were meeting in the same place.

There was a high chance that he would be captured and tortured and a small possibility that he may even be killed.

Sirius took a bottle of polyjuice potion that had a hair from a random intern at the ministry in it and an indistinct suit of clothes and went to his own office to change. He left his standard issue black Auror cloak and dragonhide boots in his office and wore the wool cloak and leather boots that Weasley had given him.

When he made it back out into the hallway, Ron was again waiting on him. "Remember, if you even think you might get noticed, use the polyjuice potion. You've got a better chance of getting away as a random person than you do as Sirius Black. Especially to your dear cousin Narcissa, since it was your death that got her nutty sister the Kiss."

Sirius nodded and Ron handed him another package. This one contained a few decoy items made under contract, by Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and a hat, also made by Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, that would make the wearer invisible for sixty seconds, giving him just enough time to Apparate away if he needed to.

Without another thought, the animagus Apparated to his designated spot and stashed the package with the hat and decoys in a nearby tree, promptly turned into Padfoot and laid down to wait for Narcissa to come out.

Padfoot was just about to doze off when he heard the great gates and the end of the walkway to Malfoy Manor creak open. Both of the dog's eyes popped open and he made his way lazily over to the big tree where he had stashed his bag and hid behind it as he transformed back into his human form, never taking an eye off of Narcissa as she stepped away from the gates.

Sirius lobbed one of the decoy's from Ron over the tall hedge and waited for it to explode. When it did and he knew any prying eyes would be on it, he stuck the hat on his head, cast the charm on himself and stepped onto the point Narcissa had Disapparated from, and followed her magical trail.

He landed with just enough time to hide before the effects of the hat began to wear off, and he yanked it off his head and stuffed it back into the bag.

Sirius was standing behind a large tree, peeking through the lowest fork in the tree when he sensed someone behind him and before he could turn with his wand or reach for the hat he was Stupified and the person behind him shouted out "Oh, ho! Look who we've got here."

Mentally cursing himself for not using the polyjuice that Ron had given him, Sirius was dragged into the clearing and surrounded by a few familiar faces and a few that he had never seen before. Before he could commit the new faces to memory, his body was set on fire with a Cruciatus curse and unable to move, his nerve endings just screamed, but Sirius couldn't make a sound.

The curse was lifted and he heard Narcissa yelling at the others to take him away.

Sirius soon found his wand taken, and he was side-along Apparated to what looked like a prison cell with nothing but a tiny window for ventilation at the top of the wall near the roof. The door was slammed and locked before the curse was lifted and Sirius could finally move.

The first thing he did was survey his body for injuries. Finding nothing but a bump on his head, the first thing Sirius did was pull his real wand from a hidden holster on his thigh, inside his pants. He sent out two partonuses. The first he sent to Weasley to inform him of his capture, and who his captors were. The second went to Hermione. All he said to her was "I've been captured, and they think they've taken my wand. Don't worry I'll be fine."

He then hid his wand back in the holster and sat in the corner to think.


	13. Chapter 13

When the big, shimmery dog landed in the middle of his desk, there was not an Auror in the office that day that didn't hear the string of profanity that fell from their red haired leader's mouth.

Luna Lovegood-Weasley, Devin Spenser, and Marcus Layne were summoned quickly to his office to play the rescue mission.

"We don't know where we're going yet," Ron began to explain to his three best Aurors. "I will be going with you, and we'll be going in pairs. Marcus, you'll be with me, Luna and Devin will go together."

He saw the looks that Marcus and Devin shared, as both wizards had expected him to pair them together, and himself with his wife. "I'm going by our magical strengths here," he said, slightly annoyed at the two.

He then continued. "Sirius will send another patronus in a few hours, and we need to be prepared when he does. Right now he's looking and listening, taking in everything around him so that we can figure out where he is. We have to figure out where he is and find him."

Ron finished explaining what he wanted each of them to do before Sirius' next patronus came to him.

"We'll find him," his wife said dreamily as she started to exit the office. "He has to come back so that he and Hermione can raise their children together."

Ron shook his head as his wife headed out to gather decoys, invisibility items, potions and salves that they would need to rescue Sirius. "Sometimes I wonder how she passed the mental evaluations to become one of us," he said.

Meanwhile, Hermione was reading a textbook at her desk. She had been over the same page 6 times, nothing sinking in, when the big, shaggy, shimmering dog landed on her desk and spoke his message in Sirius' deep voice.

"No!" She gasped loudly, and she then promptly fainted.

Luckily her assistant had been walking by the door and heard Hermione's head hit the desk. The young witch rushed into her boss' office and summoned the ministry healer who quickly ran a full body diagnostic spell, healed the bump on Hermione's head and send her assistant to get Mrs Lovegood-Weasley.

By the time the assistant had returned with Luna, Hermione was awake and sitting at her desk trembling.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Luna asked.

"Just a little bump to the head, the healer says. But I got a patronus from Sirius…" she began to explain.

"It's ok. He sent one to the Auror department first and we're already working on it." Luna said soothingly.

"I do have one more thing to tell you Ms. Granger, but I thought you'd want a friend here with you, which is why I summoned Mrs. Lovegood-Weasley." The healer interrupted their talk.

"Well? What is it?" Hermione asked a bit impatiently.

"Well. Ms. Granger, I ran a full body scan to see if there was a reason, other than the shock you had just received, that you fainted and there was. Did you know that you're pregnant?" The healer asked tentatively.

Hermione's eyes popped open and she whispered, "Pregnant? Me? Pregnant?"

The healer nodded and gave her a prescription for a prenatal vitamin potion and suggested making an appointment with a prenatal healer as soon as possible, before slipping out the door to leave Luna to deal with the shocked witch.

"Pregnant?" Hermione whispered again.

"That's wonderful news Hermione!" Luna said happily.

"But I was taking the potion!" Hermione said a bit angrily. "I'm not an idiot who has unprotected sex!"

"Oh but Hermione the potion doesn't always work, you know that. It's only ninety-eight percent effective. Besides don't you know how much this baby will be loved?" Luna tried to comfort her friend.

"This baby's daddy is currently kidnapped by a bunch of Death Eaters! Trapped somewhere alone in a cell!" The traumatized witch exclaimed. "I can't have a baby alone. Oh Luna you have to get him back for me!"

Just then a little fox terrier patronus came into Hermione's office and called Luna back to her husband's office.

"That'll be Sirius' other patronus letting us know what is around him, so that we can find him." Luna assured Hermione. "I've got to go help, I'm going with them to find him. You should go home and lay down."

Luna left the office and left Hermione to her frightened thoughts.

Knowing that she was in no state to Apparate, especially with another life inside her, Hermione had her assistant summon the Knight Bus and met it in front of the Ministry.

After a quick, but nauseating ride home, Hermione curled up in the bed that she and Sirius had been sharing and sobbed.

As Hermione received her news, Sirius was levitating himself up to the tiny window and taking note of everything around him. He recorded it all in another patronus and sent it to the Aurors office, just as he had the first one.

Just as Sirius was tucking his wand back into the holster on his thigh, the door to the room he was trapped in burst open and in walked Wormtail.

Sirius lunged for him, but the rat was ready, and cast a spell that knocked Sirius back onto the floor. "Magic was sensed in this room twice in the last half hour. What are you doing?" he sneered.

"What are you doing alive, rat?" Sirius asked snidely. "I thought surely your 'masters' would have done away with you by now."

"Faithful servants are rewarded," was Wormtail's only response.

The rat poked around the room looking for anything to incriminate Sirius, finding nothing. He left the room to report back to his masters and left Sirius alone, his wand still strapped tightly to his thigh.

The animagus paced back and forth across the short distance from the door to the window. He didn't know where he was, or how they would find him, but he knew he had to not do anymore magic and keep his wand until they did.


	14. Chapter 14

The shaggy dog once again landed on Ron's desk and he quickly cast a spell to record everything it said, then sent patronuses to his wife and the two other Aurors he had chosen to help him on this mission.

He was going over the notes and shaking his head when the three Aurors rushed into his office.

"This mission is going to be harder than I originally thought. You are my top three Aurors, based on your test scores, your field performances in the past and amount of experience. You all know how you work, and who works well with you. We're each going to need to chose a partner from the lesser experienced Aurors, because we're going to need a bigger team that I first though. Sirius is being held captive in a large castle surrounded by a large lake, barren woods and to one side he can see mountains with snow on the peaks." With that, Ron tapped his desk and the top of it changed to a topographical map of the world.

"Based on those facts we can narrow down his location to these three spots." He used his wand to draw magical circles around three mountainous regions on the map. "Further more we can knock this one out," he crossed out one of the locations, "because his patronus couldn't have traveled that far, and still been that easily understandable both times if he were that far away."

Ron looked up to see that Luna, Marcus and Devin were all nodding and looking to him for more information. He further explained that they would split into two teams, though teams of four this time instead of teams of two. One team would scout the first location and the other team the second. They would make no move until they rendezvoused back at the ministry and planned their attack.

After the plan was put together, they sat at Ron's desk deciding who would be best to take as their partners. After their partners were chosen, the four young Aurors were called into Ron's office and filled in on the plan as well.

Luna and Devin, along with their partners Apparated to a mountainous cave on Fairfield mountain in the Helvellyn mountain range. Ron, Marcus and their team landed just below Scafell Pike in the Lake District National Park.

Luna led her team out of the cave and down the mountain. They could see a clearing that practically called out to them, there was so much magic around it. They slowly and quietly lowered the wards around the area and found a ruined manor house. Luna performed many spells trying to detect any life, or any other magic that could be clouding what they were seeing, and when nothing was found, they Apparated back to the ministry to await Ron's team.

While Luna and her team were investigating the ruined manor house, Ron's team had quickly realized that they had more than likely found the house where Sirius was kept. Once they had brought down the charms and wards, and the manor sat out in the open, they knew they were right. The top floor of the back wall of the manor had a row of the high, barred windows that Sirius had described to them.

Ron and his team went back to the ministry and collected Luna and her team. They Apparated to the cave at Scafell Pike and Ron told them his plan. First they would simultaneously cast Anti-Apparation and Anti-Portkey wards around the manor, so that even if the people inside started taking them down, it would take eight times as long for anyone to escape. Then Luna's team would storm the backdoor as Ron's went in the front. They would stupefy and bind as many of the inhabitants of the manor as they could, snapping their wands after binding them. Luna's team would head straight for the back of the manor to find Sirius, while Ron's searched the rest of the house, taking down as many people as they could.

After the wards had been cast, they blasted the doors off their hinges and entered the building.

Luna and her team found the back of the house empty and immediately went for the stairs and started to search for Sirius.

Ron's team wasn't so lucky. The Death Eaters in the house heard the door blast off and rushed into the parlor. They managed to stun and bind a dozen Death Eaters before one of the younger members of their team was hit with the cruciatus curse and fell to the ground. Ron cast the counter curse on the Auror and continued to battle the Death Eaters.

Luna and her team made it safely to the third floor and found the hallway completely empty of doors and windows. They could find no way into any of the cells that they knew were there. They began casting revealing spells, spells to cancel concealing spells and nothing worked. They even tried blowing a hole in the wall.

Finally Luna stopped in the middle of the hallway and began to think about saving Sirius. She paced back and forth three times, and a concrete cell door appeared, but it was locked. Luna made quick work of the lock, with an advanced unlocking charm and found Sirius lying on the floor.

After trying unsuccessfully to wake the animagus, Luna ran a quick diagnostic spell on Sirius, but could find no reason for him to be unconscious. She cast a petrifying spell on Sirius' body to keep him immobile until they could get him back to St. Mungo's.

Luna sent the two young Aurors to escort Sirius to the hospital, and she and Devin went to find Ron and his team.

When the got to the main floor of the manor they found Ron and Marcus standing in the middle of a parlor full of stunned and bound bodies. It seemed that when the doors had blown open, everyone headed to the front door.

"Sirius was unconscious and I couldn't wake him, we sent the other two to take him to St. Mungo's." Luna informed her husband.

One of the bound female Death Eaters, who seemed to have escaped the stunning spell, cackled. "They'll never wake him."

Ron kicked her in the leg. "What are you yapping about."

Knowing that she was facing the Kiss, the woman began to cackle again. "That cell had a spell on it. The more magic used in this house, the more the person in the cell is weakened. After that fire fight, I doubt he's got much time left." The seemingly insane witch continued her cackling.

Ron quickly sent a patronus to St. Mungo's informing them of the witch's story. "Blimey, is that bitch related to Bellatrix?" he said shakily as they waited for more Aurors to appear and help them cart their prisoners to Azkaban.


	15. Chapter 15

_**AN: Song lyrics are just as much mine as JKRs characters are: NOT AT ALL. The song is Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts. **_

Hermione was lying on her bed when she heard a pop in the living room. The witch jumped out of bed and ran down the hall. "Sirius?" she called.

"No, but I'm here to take you to him, Hermione." Luna said, a bit sadly.

The brunette stopped in her tracks. "What's happened?" she asked, frightened.

"We're not entirely sure," Luna admitted. "They've taken him St. Mungo's and I'm going to take you there now. I had a ministry car sent, because I know you're in no shape to be apparating right now."

The two witches hurried to the waiting car and sped to the hospital.

Hermione stopped so quickly at the sight of the man in bed in front of her that Luna bumped into her and if it wasn't for the quick reaction of an orderly standing by the door, both women would have crashed to the floor.

The hospital room looked very muggle. Sirius had an IV in each arm with bags of liquid floating in the air above the bed. There was an oxygen cannula in his nose and his skin was so pale that it was almost translucent.

Luna led Hermione over to the bed where a they could tell that a healer was monitoring Sirius' vital signs on a small TV next to the bed. He looked up at the witches and his face was grim. "Are you the next of kin?" he asked.

Hermione started to speak, but Luna beat her to it, "She is," nodding to Hermione.

"The spell placed on Mr. Black's cell has seriously depleted his magic. I'm afraid to try and heal him by magical means, I'm afraid his body is just took weak for it. Right now we are giving him muggle antibiotics, muggle pain relievers and a bag of fluids through these IVs. We are giving him extra oxygen through the cannula so that his lungs don't have to work so hard to provide adequate oxygen for his body to heal. You're lucky that the Aurors got him out when they did. His body couldn't have taken much more."

Luna slid a chair under Hermione as her body sagged. "He's going to be ok Hermione. You just need to sit here and talk to him and let him know that he isn't alone, and his body will heal. We'll all come around and make sure he knows that he's got us all pulling for him. He'll come around for you and the baby. I know he will."

Hermione sat by the bed holding Sirius' hand and stroking his face, for several hours. Luna left and came back later with Ron, but Hermione never noticed her absence or her reappearance and when Ron spoke softly to her, she jumped.

"Hermione," the wizard spoke. "Love you need to go home and get some rest.

When she lifted her gaze from Sirius' face, she realized that it was quite dark outside.

Hermione pulled out her wand and transfigured her chair into a cot. Laying down and closing her eyes, the frightened witch never let go of her lovers hand.

For several weeks there was no change in Sirius. His body slowly got stronger and the antibiotics and oxygen were no longer needed and the pain killers were reduced to almost none. They had to keep the fluids going, and added nutrient potions into his IV fluids to keep him from becoming malnourished, but the dark haired wizard never responded to anyone's voice.

Hermione's prenatal healer came to visit her in Sirius' private room one day. "Miss Granger you know that you should have came by my office now. You're far enough along to find out the gender of your baby."

Hermione shook her head. "I'm not leaving his side until he's better. I've only left to shower and use the loo and I'm not changing that now. You can check me here and we'll find out the gender when he wakes up."

The healer sighed and shook her head, but ran a diagnostic spell over Hermione and concentrated on her abdomen. She prescribed a stronger nutrient potion and gave Hermione a card with a date and time on it. "We're doing your ultrasound then, like it or not. We need to make sure that the baby is healthy and that there isn't anything special that we need to do before he or she is born. If you won't come to me to do it, then I'll bring my ultrasound machine in here, but you have to take care of the baby too."

Hermione nodded and turned her attention back to Sirius. She began to sing a lullaby to him, and when he began to stir, she sang his secret favorite song.

"_I set out on a narrow way many years ago_

_Hoping I would find true love along the broken road_

_But I got lost a time or two_

_Wiped my brow and kept pushing through_

_I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you_

_Every long lost dream led me to where you are_

_Others who broke my heart they were like Northern stars_

_Pointing me on my way into your loving arms_

_This much I know is true_

_That God blessed the broken road_

_That led me straight to you_

_I think about the years I spent just passing through_

_I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you_

_But you just smile and take my hand_

_You've been there you understand_

_It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true_

_Every long lost dream led me to where you are_

_Others who broke my heart they were like Northern stars_

_Pointing me on my way into your loving arms_

_This much I know is true_

_That God blessed the broken road_

_That led me straight to you_

_Now I'm just rolling home_

_Into my lover's arms_

_This much I know is true_

_That God blessed the broken road_

_That led me straight to you_

_That God blessed the broken road_

_That led me straight to you."_

Through out the song, Sirius stirred, and just as she sang the last line, his eyes fluttered open.


	16. Chapter 16

_AN: I'm sorry if this Hermione seems too OOC for anyone. I'm kinda putting how I'd feel onto her. I can't imagine living without my baby's father, or going on with my life while my baby's father was in a coma._

Hermione's jaw dropped and a brief smile ghosted across Sirius face before he was back out, like nothing had ever happened.

The sad little witch sang her heart out, trying to no avail, to bring him back awake again. The healer came in and looked at her strangely.

"His eyes opened and he smiled!" Hermione said excitedly.

The healer shook his head. "Miss Granger there has been no change in Mr. Black since he got here, other than he is perfectly healed physically. We're not sure if he'll ever wake." The healer left the room, followed by a death glare from Hermione.

"I know what I saw." She grumbled.

She continued to talk to Sirius through-out the day and into the night, until she fell asleep. Others like Ginny, Molly, Arthur, Luna and Ron came by, but they went mostly unnoticed by Hermione, who was closely watching Sirius for any sign of life.

Days went by of the same thing. Visitors came and went, but Hermione rarely left Sirius' side, even to use the loo. She had take-out brought in and took her nutrient potions for the baby.

A few days later her prenatal healer showed up with her ultrasound machine and another young healer in tow.

"Miss Granger, it's time for your ultrasound," the healer said.

Hermione laid back on the bed, scooted her pants down to her hips and lifted her shirt. As the other healer, that Hermione now knew to be the ultrasound technician, squirted the cool goo on her stomach, she took Sirius' hand once more.

As the tech moved the ultrasound wand across Hermione's stomach and the baby inside her came into view, Hermione's attention snapped to the screen. "That's…..our baby?" she asked in awe.

"Yes ma'am," the tech answered. "The little one has ten fingers and ten toes. Looks like it's growing right on schedule. Looks to weigh about a pound right now, but that'll speed up soon."

Hermione watched the screen as the tech measured, made notations and took snapshots She hadn't noticed Sirius slightly stirring on her left.

"Would you like to know the gender of your baby?" The tech asked.

"Yes. I think we would." Hermione said, her eyes locked on the screen.

"Looks to me like you're having a healthy baby girl," the tech said with a smile. "Congratulations…"

"A daughter?" A deep voice croaked from their left.

Everyone in the room turned toward Sirius' bed in disbelief.

Hermione jumped off the table, forgetting her goo covered stomach and threw her arms around his neck. "You are NEVER leaving me like that again!"

Sirius tried to speak but his throat was too dry, and when Hermione realized why he wasn't talking, she ran to the window and got him a glass of water from the pitcher.

After slowly sipping the water, wetting his throat, Sirius responded, "Never baby. Never leaving you again."

Sirius' healer came into the room because she had been alerted to the spike in his vital signs. "Nice to see you Mr. Black," she said, clearing her throat.

Hermione pulled away from Sirius was a sheepish smile on her face. "I told you he was coming back," she said.

"And I apologize for not believing you Miss Granger." The healer said as she checked Sirius over.

"Mrs. Black." Sirius corrected the healer. "Or at least I hope she will be as soon as I can get out of this bed."

Hermione looked at Sirius with a confused look on her face. "What do you mean?"

"Baby I've been fighting it for ages but all I could think about while I was trapped in that room, was getting back to you. I don't ever want to leave your side again. I love you so much. I know this is far from romantic and not the way I had imagined proposing to my future wife, but Hermione Granger, would you please do me the pleasure of being my wife. Spend eternity with me baby?" Sirius asked with hope in his eyes.

Before he had finished his speech, tears were pouring down Hermione's cheeks. "I love you too. Yes I'll marry you. Yes I want to spend forever with you. I'd love to be your wife."

The healers all clapped, bringing the couple out of their little love bubble and back to reality.

"Mr. Black, we'd like to keep you around for a few days to monitor your vitals and make sure you're alright, before you go home." The healer explained.

Sirius agreed, hoping that he'd be ready to watch his bride walk down the aisle as soon as possible.

The next morning the healers had Sirius up and walking around, watching his vital signs and everything seemed to be going well. He wasn't getting light headed or having any drops or spikes in his vital signs, so they agreed to let him go home the next day if his vitals continued to be stable and he had to headaches or dizziness.

To everyone's amazement, the dark haired wizard was discharged from St. Mungo's only two days after he came out of his coma.

He was greeted at Hermione's home by his beautiful witch, as well as Luna, Ron and the rest of the Weasley family.

"Glad to see you up and around again," Ron said, clapping Sirius on the back.

Luna hugged both Sirius and Hermione, and said "I'm so happy for the two of you."

Hermione laughed. Luna always seemed to know before anyone else. No one but the healers who were in the room knew that Sirius had asked Hermione to marry him, and that she had said yes. She wore no ring, so there is no way anyone could have guessed.

Sirius decided that now would be the perfect time to announce their engagement, so he loudly called, "Hey! Everyone listen up!"

When everyone was quiet, he continued. "I just wanted you all to know that this beautiful little witch right here has agreed to marry this old dog, and she's having my daughter!" He grabbed Hermione around the waist and spun her around. "We're going tomorrow to pick out the biggest ring in the jewelry store."

Hermione was laughing as Sirius spun her. The two were met with hugs and congratulations from the entire Weasley clan.

The couple explained that they had decided to marry that weekend, in a small ceremony with just close friends and family, in their back gardens. Molly seemed a bit disappointed until Hermione asked her to help her with the arrangements.

Luna was asked to be Hermione's Matron of Honor and Ron was asked by Sirius to be his Best Man. Wedding plans were discussed for the better part of the day, and by dinner time, both Sirius and Hermione were exhausted. They ate a small dinner together and headed up to bed, not caring that the sun was still up.


	17. Chapter 17

The rest of the week flew by in a blur of rings and dresses and flowers. Between working and wedding planning, Hermione was exhausted by the end of the day, and usually fell asleep in their bed with Sirius rubbing her feet, or just laying back in Sirius' arms.

Sirius was still off work. Ron had given him indefinite time off, with the promise that when, or if Sirius decided to come back to work, he would always have a job doing field work or desk work, whatever he chose. It was a comfort to Sirius, knowing that if he ever needed or wanted it, it was always there.

When Saturday morning rolled around, Hermione once again rolled out of bed and ran for the bathroom, emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. This time, however, it was from nerves, not morning sickness.

As she was throwing up, Sirius was right there with her, holding her hair back, and when she was finished, wiping her face with a cool cloth. He summoned her a glass of cool water to rinse her mouth and when she was done and the toilet was flushed, she sank back into his arms, right there in the bathroom floor.

"You take such good care of me," Hermione said, laying her head against her soon to be husband's chest.

"Someone has to," he told her. "You don't slow down for a minute."

The two got up and left the bathroom, beginning to get ready for their big day.

After sharing a light breakfast, Sirius apparated to The Burrow, where he was to get ready for the wedding.

Shortly after Sirius left, Luna and Ginny knocked on Hermione's door. "Ready for your big day?" Ginny asked, hugging the pregnant witch fiercely.

"My nerves are shot," Hermione admitted.

"They're supposed to be. If they weren't, I'd worry!" Ginny said, laughing.

The redhead and the blonde helped Hermione getting ready. Ginny did her hair while Luna did her makeup, and they both helped her step into her dress and Ginny laced her up.

They turned her to face the mirror and her eyes filled with tears. "No crying!" Luna called out, "You'll muss your makeup and I haven't charmed it yet."

Hermione giggled a little and dried her eyes before the tears could fall and mess up her makeup.

Luna came over with her wand and charmed Hermione's hair and makeup to hold for 8 hours, so that they could get through the wedding and the after party without any mishaps.

After Hermione had slipped on her blue garter, the antique necklace she'd borrowed from her grandmother, and the new diamond earrings that Sirius had bought her, all muggle traditions, her father stepped through the door. "Ready Princess?"

Hermione nodded and all three girls made their way to the back door.

Everyone stood and watched as Ginny followed Luna down the aisle to a soft classical tune. As Ginny stepped up into her place, the music changed and Hermione and her father linked arms and stepped into the doorway.

The beautiful bride couldn't take her eyes off of the dashing dark haired wizard who was waiting on her at the end of the aisle.

Hermione and her father made their way down the aisle surrounded by a few family members and many friends. When they reached the end, the minister asked "Who gives this woman to be wed?"

Her father replied, "Her mother and I," and handed his daughter off to her soon to be husband.

Sirius took Hermione's hands and the ceremony began.

The minister began, "Friends and family, we are gathered today to witness an exchange of vows, a bonding of souls, and the marriage of Hermione Jean Granger and Sirius Orion Black. The couple have chosen to write their own vows. Sirius?"

"Hermione, you've saved me. You rescued me from the veil, you saved me from drinking myself to death after Harry, you sat by my side while I was in a coma, and you're making me a father. You're more than I could have ever dreamed of. You complete me, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you." Sirius said, staring into his bride's eyes.

"Sirius, you say that I saved you, but really, you saved me. I've done nothing but work and study my entire life. You brought out a new side of me. You've shown me how to have fun, how to truly love, and how to be loved. You brought me out of my lonely little world and helped me see my true self. Now we've created a child together and I look forward to growing old with you. Sirius Black, I love you." Hermione said with tears in her eyes.

"Do you, Sirius Orion Black, take Hermione to be your lawfully, magically wedded wife, your souls bound for all eternity, until death does part you?"

"I do." Sirius replied, his smile covering his face.

"Do you, Hermione Jean Granger, take Sirius to be your lawfully, magically wedded husband, your souls bonded for all eternity, until death does part you?"

"I do," Hermione said, tears now pouring down her face.

"Then by the powers bestowed on me by the Ministry of Magic, I do pronounce you husband and wife, bonded until death. Ladies and Gentlemen, Wizards and Witches, I am now proud to present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Sirius Orion Black. Sirius, you may kiss your bride." The minister said happily.

Sirius pulled Hermione close and kissed her warmly. The happy couple stood at the altar for a moment, staring into each others' eyes. Their gaze was broken as they realized everyone had stood, and was clapping for them.

Hand in hand they walked down the aisle and into their home to greet their guests at the lavish reception that Molly Weasley had planned and cooked entirely too much food for.

The happy couple danced together, and with Hermione's parents, and many of their friends. Much food was eaten, stories were told and toasts were made.

The party lasted well into the night and only began to break up when Sirius noticed how tired Hermione was and announced, "I'm taking my beautiful wife upstairs for a good night's sleep before our little honeymoon tomorrow. Goodnight everyone, and thank you for coming."

Sirius lifted Hermione into his arms and took her upstairs. The blushing bride was asleep before her husband laid her gently in bed.


	18. Epilogue

Her screams could be heard echoing off the walls of St. Mungo's Hospital as Sirius rushed to his wife's side.

Hermione's labor had started early that morning, but she hadn't told Sirius, not wanting him hovering over her like a mother hen all day, when she new that many first time mothers labored for twenty hours or more.

Little did she know that she would be calling Sirius home from work just a few short hours later, and when he couldn't be found quickly enough, Luna had to take her to St. Mungo's, because her water had broken.

She was screaming and cursing Sirius as he rushed into the room and took his place by her head, taking her hand and kissing her forehead. Luna, who had been holding Hermione's other hand, silently slipped away, closing the delivery room doors behind her.

"Mrs. Black, I can see hear head now, I need you to give a good, strong push with the next contraction."

"The next one? They haven't stopped!" Hermione screeched at the healer.

Hermione pushed with all her might, over and over until she thought she couldn't push anymore. As the healer told her "One more time," for what seemed like the fiftieth time, she began to cry. "Sirius, I can't do this anymore. I can't do it."

Her dark haired husband wiped her face with a soft cloth, kissed her and offered her all his strength as she pushed one last time. Her ragged scream rang out through the halls and as she fell back against the pillows on her bed the beautiful cry of a gorgeous little girl with dark hair and honey brown eyes echoed her mother's scream.

The Weasleys and Grangers who were gathered in the waiting room could all be heard cheering, for they knew that their granddaughter and honorary niece had finally made her way into the world.

Sirius followed the healer over to the little table where they cleaned and weighed the babies, and got to cut her umbilical cord. Once she had been weighed, measured and was all clean, Sirius carried the little pink bundle over to meet her mommy.

Hermione's eyes sparkled as she took her daughter into her arms. "Do you think her name fits?" she asked her husband.

"I think it's perfect," Sirius replied, completely in love with his beautiful daughter.

Sometime later they allowed the family to all come in and meet their precious bundle.

After she was passed from person to person and back into her father's arms, George finally asked, "Well, what is our little princess' name?"

Sirius smiled. "Everyone, please say hello to Alima Fiona Black."

Everyone smiled and cooed over her name, and it was Arthur who asked "Who are the lucky godparents?"

This time Hermione smiled and said "Since they helped us both so much, we'd like Ron and Luna to be Allie's godparents."

The papers were signed and the baby was kissed by her huge extended family before everyone was shooed out of the room to let mama and baby rest.

_Alima - ah-LEE-mah, Hebrew. Means powerful and strong._

_Fiona - fee - O - nah, Gaelic. Means fair and beautiful. _

_AN: This is it guys. No more chapters and no sequel. Thank you all for reading and especially big thanks to those of you who reviews. To those who haven't reviewed, it isn't too late! _


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